How the AZ Women’s Conference came to be…

The AZ Women’s Conference was a dream that came true. There were no conferences that had such varied topics and that were open to all women. Working with an energized group of women with like-minded values we formed a committee and started the 1st AZ Women’s Conference. The purpose of the conference is to bring all women together to share their passions, ideas, struggles, and successes.

Being able to keep the cost extremely low, thanks to the generosity of many sponsors, the women’s conference was born. We have grown over the years and added things as we have moved forward. We are on our third year of recognizing a Woman of Vision, we have wonderful entertainment to open the conference, workshops with professionals from around the valley, and some even come in out of state, who will Inform and Inspire you. We hope all of this will Ignite you to go out into your world and make it a better place for yourself, your family and your community. All done with volunteers who care about making this conference successful and open to everyone. We hope you will join us for our 8th Annual Event and make it even better.

Deana Garner (Arizona State University Senior Associate Athletic Director & Senior Woman Administrator) came to ASU by way of the National Football League, where she was the director of security and player engagement. After earning a law degree at Indiana University, Garner Smith was a deputy prosecutor in the Marion County prosecutor’s office in Indianapolis, specializing in domestic violence. There, she witnessed a lot of terrible situations and saw the importance of intervention. She started to formulate the approach she has brought to ASU – talking about tough topics. In detail.

“You have to be proactive in talking with people, especially young people, about ways to stay safe, in particular young ladies,” Garner Smith said. “Because they may or may not have had conversations about healthy relationships, what a healthy relationship looks like and what an unhealthy relationship can end up being. “How do you prevent it, and how do you extricate yourself from it?”

After leaving the prosecutor’s office, Garner Smith worked for the Indiana Gaming Commission and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Through her decade of work at the NCAA, she formed partnerships with the professional leagues, and in 2008, she went to work for the NFL. There, she developed life-skills programs that players participated in during the off-season. Her time in the NFL was rewarding, but she came to ASU so she would have a chance to work with young athletes again.